This book describes the role of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, assesses the influence it had on Chinese history and society, and shows how it transformed China's relationship with the world. ...
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This book describes the role of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, assesses the influence it had on Chinese history and society, and shows how it transformed China's relationship with the world. It explains how, between its founding in 1854 and its collapse in 1952, the Service delivered one-third to one-half of all revenue collected by China's central authorities. The book shows that the service was much more than a tax collector—it also managed China's harbours, erected lighthouses, surveyed the Chinese coast, and pioneered China's modern postal system. The book also follows the activities of the Inspectors General, who were virtual autocrats within the Service and who communicated regularly with senior Chinese officials and foreign diplomats. The book assesses the Service's impact on historical events such as the Sino-French War, the Boxer Rebellion, the 1911 Revolution, and the rise of the Nationalists in the 1920s. It shows how the Service was pivotal to China's post-Taiping integration into the world of modern nation-states and twentieth-century trade and finance. It argues that the Service introduced the modern governance of trade to China, made Chinese legible to foreign audiences, and that it often kept China together when little else did.Less

Breaking with the Past : The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China

Hans van de Ven

Published in print: 2014-02-11

This book describes the role of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, assesses the influence it had on Chinese history and society, and shows how it transformed China's relationship with the world. It explains how, between its founding in 1854 and its collapse in 1952, the Service delivered one-third to one-half of all revenue collected by China's central authorities. The book shows that the service was much more than a tax collector—it also managed China's harbours, erected lighthouses, surveyed the Chinese coast, and pioneered China's modern postal system. The book also follows the activities of the Inspectors General, who were virtual autocrats within the Service and who communicated regularly with senior Chinese officials and foreign diplomats. The book assesses the Service's impact on historical events such as the Sino-French War, the Boxer Rebellion, the 1911 Revolution, and the rise of the Nationalists in the 1920s. It shows how the Service was pivotal to China's post-Taiping integration into the world of modern nation-states and twentieth-century trade and finance. It argues that the Service introduced the modern governance of trade to China, made Chinese legible to foreign audiences, and that it often kept China together when little else did.

Chapter three focuses on the pacification process in Tonkin during the period 1885-1891, in order to provide the necessary background for understanding the relative success in this region in the ...
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Chapter three focuses on the pacification process in Tonkin during the period 1885-1891, in order to provide the necessary background for understanding the relative success in this region in the following decade and Gallieni's role within this. It shows how a lack of clear direction over the course of action to be taken, coupled with civil-military squabbles over who should direct it, along with a range of wider internal and external military-political problems, contributed to the turmoil of that decade.Less

Tonkin 1885–1891: Pacification Without Method

Michael P.M. Finch

Published in print: 2013-08-01

Chapter three focuses on the pacification process in Tonkin during the period 1885-1891, in order to provide the necessary background for understanding the relative success in this region in the following decade and Gallieni's role within this. It shows how a lack of clear direction over the course of action to be taken, coupled with civil-military squabbles over who should direct it, along with a range of wider internal and external military-political problems, contributed to the turmoil of that decade.

This chapter explores the mutual transformation of the Min writing-women and Fuzhou Navy Yard cultures, focusing on the union of the Fuzhou girl prodigy Xue Shaohui and the Fuzhou Naval Academy ...
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This chapter explores the mutual transformation of the Min writing-women and Fuzhou Navy Yard cultures, focusing on the union of the Fuzhou girl prodigy Xue Shaohui and the Fuzhou Naval Academy graduate Chen Shoupeng. Shoupeng’s experiences abroad introduced Xue to a much broader spectrum of knowledge than what she had acquired from her Min writing-women upbringing, but repeated foreign invasions at Xue’s doorstep soon tarnished the alluring luster of Western cultures. Chen Jitong’s private life also reveals the complexity of this bicultural “marriage.” Such mixed exposure to the outside world led Xue and some of her fellow Min writing women to a lifelong journey of negotiating between the cultural values of China and the West, enabling them to cultivate their unique visions in their future reform career.Less

A Marriage between the Two Cultures

Nanxiu Qian

Published in print: 2015-04-01

This chapter explores the mutual transformation of the Min writing-women and Fuzhou Navy Yard cultures, focusing on the union of the Fuzhou girl prodigy Xue Shaohui and the Fuzhou Naval Academy graduate Chen Shoupeng. Shoupeng’s experiences abroad introduced Xue to a much broader spectrum of knowledge than what she had acquired from her Min writing-women upbringing, but repeated foreign invasions at Xue’s doorstep soon tarnished the alluring luster of Western cultures. Chen Jitong’s private life also reveals the complexity of this bicultural “marriage.” Such mixed exposure to the outside world led Xue and some of her fellow Min writing women to a lifelong journey of negotiating between the cultural values of China and the West, enabling them to cultivate their unique visions in their future reform career.